No special tea or ware for me this Xmas. I bought three new pots last spring and I still have 1300grams of 2010 sencha/2011 shincha and 1600 grams of oolong. I bought into Japanese teas heavily this year and that has thrown off my schedule.

But, if I did buy something new it would be a shiboridashi. I've been eyeing one by Yoshiki for a while now.

brlarson wrote:
What about you? Do you have any special gifts in mind?

So difficult to decide

I have 2 tea trays and a couple of teaboats, but I am always keeping my eyes open for a nice stone tea tray. I have seen some wonderful ones in Evergree Tea Arts centre in KL, but never seen one I like as much as theirs.

Hmmm thoughts of Christmas? Now that you mention it you have me thinking about it, but I usually do not think about Christmas until after my sisters birthday in Early October. I usually try and be proactive which means I usually have purchased all the gifts I am giving out by Thanksgiving.

Although in terms of Christmas it is quite hard to get my family to get me tea stuff, where it is a bit hard to be surprised as they know little about tea and teaware themselves. Though this year I think I am going to give hints relating to Celadon teaware. I have seen some Ru Kiln cups, among other things that really have my eye. Even better is they are a bit less expensive as my parents always seem to have sticker shock when it comes to tea.

Its odd thinking back to 9/11 I was old enough to still be able to clearly remember the day, and know that it was an incredibly important day, and quite a scary day, but I was still young enough that I am pretty sure that some of the incredible gravity of the situation was lost on me. It would be interesting to hear other peoples accounts of the day.

Its odd thinking back to 9/11 I was old enough to still be able to clearly remember the day, and know that it was an incredibly important day, and quite a scary day, but I was still young enough that I am pretty sure that some of the incredible gravity of the situation was lost on me. It would be interesting to hear other peoples accounts of the day.

My first remembrance of when I first turned on the TV was I literally could not speak, I tried to, but nothing came out. There are some things about it to this day I find hard to speak about. I did not want to see the things I saw, but I could not stop watching as one horror after another unfolded, live on TV. But these are things I know I should never forget.

Like so many Americans, I wanted to do something and felt a sense of helplessness.

There were so many heros that day. As days unfolded afterwards, the heroic acts of the "let's roll" citizen passengers including Todd Beamer on United Airlines Flight 93 became more and more public. In the USA we had always been taught passivity if ever placed in such a situation, their actions were a metaphor for the new "vigilant" mentality that swept the nation.

I always think ... for 10 years, would I be like these vigilant passengers? I can only hope so.

So many articles on this subject, reading today I still have such strong emotional reactions.

So today I remember by reading again about the events so I will not forget the herioc actions of so many nor the senseless loss of innocent lives.

*lifts teacup* to all the men, women, and children who lost their lives on this day 10 years ago.

My Daughter-in-law and granddaughter were to catch a plane that day in LA to come home to Tennessee. Thank goodness it was later in the day. Our son was stationed in LA and his dad called him at 6 a.m. California time and told him to turn on the TV. He had awakened me by standing at the foot of the bed saying, "Get up. We're under attack." Our world changed.

I remember coming home from school and finding my parents both watching the coverage on the news. I was too little to understand the implications of what had happened, but I knew it was important. I remember those moments to this day.

On a happier note, I put in my first order for tea from Adagio. I can't wait for it to arrive! (I've been a loose-leaf user for some time, however)

Today has been an odd teaDay.....just not very satisfying. I think somehow the problem is in my nose or tastebuds, not in the teas, as a wide variety of them have fallen rather flat today, and I put aside several tea reviews I'd started because today's infusions were not as enjoyable as those from the start of the sessions the night before.

My Daughter-in-law and granddaughter were to catch a plane that day in LA to come home to Tennessee. Thank goodness it was later in the day. Our son was stationed in LA and his dad called him at 6 a.m. California time and told him to turn on the TV. He had awakened me by standing at the foot of the bed saying, "Get up. We're under attack." Our world changed.

a lot of tea has been drunk here today.....shared a batch of Sichuan Meng Ding Huang Ya yellow tea, a subtle and pleasant brew; then some variably light to assertive 2009 Lao Mansa sheng puerh, a tea that I don't drink very often, but that still doesn't seem likely to see out the original idea of being bought as an experiment in aging, because I keep enjoying it too much when I do brew up a batch; and finishing with some 2009 Lao Cong Quin Ti - Osmanthus Fragrance Phoenix Oolong from Tea Habitat, still learning about this one. I can sometimes taste the osmanthus blossom, but not every infusion, and tonight I am too distracted to be consistent with the brewing. Not the tea's fault. It is nice enough to forgive most of my sloppiness, but not all.